Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/330408
June 2014 | Construction Equipment Distribution | ZZZFHGPDJFRP| 29 Regulatory Fees Alberta's maximum per-unit fee is $200. Similar to Ontario, Alberta's program was introduced to deal with the environmental threat of stockpiled tires. Fees are used to ensure old tires are put to good use in what has become a thriving provincial recycling industry. With financial incentives from Alberta Recycling, processors take close to five million tires discarded in the province every year and turn them into new products; a portion of the fees goes to fund research into new recycled products. In British Columbia, large off-road rubber is excluded from what's known as Tire Stewardship BC, because "there's currently no viable recycling solution" for this tire type. The maximum recycling fee applied in BC is $35 per unit for logger/skidder type tires. Unfair to End-Users? Ontario farmers rebelled when the WDO fee structure was revamped last year, resulting in some of the tires required on machinery demanding fees of as much as $353 per unit. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) intervened, manag- ing to have a couple of categories combined, cutting the maximum fee in half. OFA president Mark Wales accused the WDO and its parent, the Ontario Ministry of Environment, of trying to get the money-losing program out of the red on the backs of farmers. The proposed fee increases averaged 400 percent over the mix of farm tires. The agency claimed the hike reflected true recycling costs. Handling roughly 40,000 tires a day, the government's recycling arm has argued that, as technology improves, the cost of the program should go down. It maintains that 82 percent of its expenditures are for tire collection, hauling and recycling. Five percent goes to cleaning up tire stockpiles and the remainder to administration, consulting, research and marketing. A government-mandated priority under the program is to remove stockpiles scattered across the province. Over the course of five years, 97 percent of those piles have been recycled. Even Ontario Environment Minister Jim Bradley has recog- nized the program's weakness in that stakeholders continue to express concerns about the off-the-road tires component, its costs, and its impact on business consumers and the marketplace. The main concern is the level of fees as expressed by tire dealers, off-road vehicle and equipment manufacturers, and end-use consumers in agriculture, forestry, mining, construc- tion and other industrial sectors. Critics say those fees are driving some consumers into other provinces and the U.S. to make their off-road tire purchases. Diverted by an Ontario provincial election campaign called May 2 for a vote June 12, Bradley called upon WDO to report to him on the off-road tire component, including steps to be taken to address stakeholder complaints and how to improve the program. He has ordered a review by a multistakeholder advisory committee, along with broad consultation. A final report is to be submitted no later than Sept. 12. Bradley wants advice and recommendations pertaining to fairness in the marketplace. In addition, he wants options for reuse, recycling and diversion of off-road tires; opportunities to reduce fees; approaches to address consumer concerns over design, operation and governance of the off-road program; and possible changes to enhance consumer involvement in decision-making related to the program. Politics Plays a Part It's unclear what might happen to the review and report and, in fact, to the entire program and the bureaucracy it has spawned should Bradley and his Liberal government fail to be re-elected. Leading in early polls, the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party has already said that, if it forms the next government, it'll eliminate the WDO and all tire, battery and electronics recycling programs in favor of free market solutions. "There's no better way to get the best environmental outcomes than to insert competition in the system," said Michael Harris, a PC member of the Ontario legislative assem- bly. "The private sector would ensure that costs are kept to a minimum and a program operated efficiently." Calling OTS a bust, Harris sees it as a bad example of big government searching for new ways of paying for another bureaucracy. "Lower rates may prop the system up for a while, but it's only a matter of time before the whole thing collapses." Drury isn't so sure that taking tire recycling out of the hands of a government agency is the right way to go. He doesn't necessarily trust private enterprise to get the job done. With its future uncertain, WDO has launched a public consultation campaign seeking feedback for the minister from off-road tire users. "It's critical that recommendations reflect as many views as possible, especially those of consumers who use Off- the-Road tires, such as farmers and construction, forestry, industrial and mining companies," says WDO Chief Executive Officer Michael Scott. Understanding that it might be for naught, those who want to participate in the public survey can e-mail their views to jrobins@wdo.ca as to the off-road component's strengths and weaknesses, the top challenges faced, and suggestions for improvement. TOM VAN DUSEN JR. has written for daily and weekly newspapers in Canada for more than 40 years. A freelancer based near Ottawa, Ont., his specialties include the general economy, politics, agriculture and the environ- ment. He can be reached at 613-445-3407, tomvandusen@sympatico.ca.